Golf commentator Peter Alliss has been taken to task for “unhelpful” comments which caused outrage among Tayside volunteers.
Joining the debate on Muirfield Golf Club voting against accepting women members Mr Alliss said: “I want to join the WVS but unless I have a few bits and pieces nipped away on my body I’m not going to be able to get in”.
It may be typical of Alliss’ jocular tone, but it has not amused many of the organisation’s legions of male volunteers.
Now rebranded as the Royal Voluntary Service to get away from the stereotypical view of being a women’s organisation, it caused a gnashing of teeth among members of the RVS.
“I can assure Peter Alliss that his body will be left intact and no ‘pieces will be snipped away’ as he fears, if he really wants to be a much needed volunteer for the RVS (previously WRVS),” said 81-year-old Raymond King, of Perth.
“Believe it or not I have been one of the many male volunteer drivers for the last 18 years.
“So come along Peter, get your head out of the sand and become a volunteer. Your body will be untouched and you’ll enjoy your golf even better!”
Jan Bell of the RVS in Dundee hit out at the “uneducated” comments.
“I am a service manager for the Royal Voluntary Service, previously known as WRVS, in Dundee and run a home from hospital service for older people, both men and women,” she said. “We help older people, with little or no family support, to get back on their feet after a hospital stay.
“Men are most definitely not excluded from being supported by or from volunteering with the service.”
A number of volunteers approached her “upset and angry” by the comments and she said the RVS was keen to encourage male volunteers and this type of comment was unhelpful.
Barbara MacPhee, the RVS service manager in Perth and Kinross entered the fray, pointing out that they had 80 male volunteers.
“Some services would not manage without male volunteers,” she said.
The opportunities for volunteering will be explored at an event in Vision PK in New Row, Perth, on June 6 from 1pm to 4pm and she issued an open invitation to all potential volunteers.
